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GeoCache Etiquette for Joining a Hunt?


bobmcc

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Wife and I haven't been doing caching long at all but really enjoying it. Yesterday we convinced our teenage son and his girlfriend to go with us and try it out. We downloaded all 1 and 2 terrains and difficulty as we're all newbies.

 

At our first stop we showed the teens how it all worked and the four of us began our hunt. About that time a seasoned cacher approached and asked if we were looking for the cache. To which we explained we were and he began looking as well.

 

Within about 5 minutes the visitor found it, signed the log book, handed it off to us and then left. The kids were crushed and the wife and I were kind of dumbfounded ourselves.

 

I would think unless you're invited wouldn't it be more polite bypass a group that is already searching and go on to another cache then come back after we were finished?

 

Admittedly I'm still learning so any education is appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Bob

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Wife and I haven't been doing caching long at all but really enjoying it. Yesterday we convinced our teenage son and his girlfriend to go with us and try it out. We downloaded all 1 and 2 terrains and difficulty as we're all newbies.

 

At our first stop we showed the teens how it all worked and the four of us began our hunt. About that time a seasoned cacher approached and asked if we were looking for the cache. To which we explained we were and he began looking as well.

 

Within about 5 minutes the visitor found it, signed the log book, handed it off to us and then left. The kids were crushed and the wife and I were kind of dumbfounded ourselves.

 

I would think unless you're invited wouldn't it be more polite bypass a group that is already searching and go on to another cache then come back after we were finished?

 

Admittedly I'm still learning so any education is appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Bob

Just my opinion, but that was bad form on the "seasoned" cacher's part.

If it was ME in the seasoned cacher's place? I would've asked you were new...and let you guys find it (or if I did find it, keep it to myself, let you guys find it, sign it, then sign it myself). Or offered to look together. Something more sportsman-like.

 

Don't let this one experience sour any of you on the sport/hobby!

Edited by gregnotcraig
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Wife and I haven't been doing caching long at all but really enjoying it. Yesterday we convinced our teenage son and his girlfriend to go with us and try it out. We downloaded all 1 and 2 terrains and difficulty as we're all newbies.

 

At our first stop we showed the teens how it all worked and the four of us began our hunt. About that time a seasoned cacher approached and asked if we were looking for the cache. To which we explained we were and he began looking as well.

 

Within about 5 minutes the visitor found it, signed the log book, handed it off to us and then left. The kids were crushed and the wife and I were kind of dumbfounded ourselves.

 

I would think unless you're invited wouldn't it be more polite bypass a group that is already searching and go on to another cache then come back after we were finished?

 

Admittedly I'm still learning so any education is appreciated

 

Thanks

 

Bob

Well I am still new too, but I would think he should have asked before joining in, then you could have politely explained that yall were new and demuggling your teens and would perfer to go it alone. Of course, you also could have left and returned later if it was a big deal. I personally would love to have a cacher run into me and join in on the hunt. But when I see other cachers I am too shy to introduce myself, I just come back later.

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I've only met cachers out a couple of times while actually hunting.

 

One time, I was in the process of signing the log when others showed up. Oops. Nothing you can do about that.

 

Other times, though, someone might find it, but not grab the container right away in order to give the other hunters a chance to find it on their own. When I cache with my wife, I will let her know I've found it (especially if she's looking somewhere else entirely) to let her know generally where she needs to look.

 

I think that way lets everyone get something out of the hunt, and it seems to be a widely agreed-upon method.

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It might have been better to ask if he could join the search. But I always enjoy it when I meet another cacher. I have found more caches than I have met geocachers, so the latter is more important to me.

 

I don't worry about who finds what. And in almost every group I have done, the first person who finds the cache signs the log for us all while we act appreciatively. But it depends on the situation. There was one time I met some other cachers and even after we spotted the cache, we waited until their child had found it.

 

To me, finding the cache is perhaps the least interesting part of caching -- other people like to do things differently. Which is why it might have been good to ask.

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About that time a seasoned cacher approached and asked if we were looking for the cache. To which we explained we were and he began looking as well.

The problem is, you can't always tell if your fellow cacher is a newbie or a seasoned cacher.

Maybe you should have said "We're new..."

 

I would take a step back and give you a chance to find it first, or if I found it -or thought I knew where it was- I'd move away and say "I've found it/think I know where it is" and give you a chance.

 

I've cached in a group at an event, and it is a different type of caching, but being 700+ finds I'm not on the learning curve for finding caches, and rather enjoyed the 'caching with others' experience as whoever found the cache first waved it in the air!

 

Don't let it put you off, we all play it our own way.

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I have to admit, my kids and I would've been crushed too ... but I would have also stated we were new, and my kids are young anyway, so probably any seasoned cacher would've given hints and let the kids do the actually find, if possible. I hope that's what I'd do.

 

The only time it's happened to us was the other way around ... we were hunting a cache, and on the trail spotted someone in about the right area. We hollered over and asked if she was geocaching, and had a good laugh about not being inconspicuous (which she was, as we were well in the woods!), and then we asked if we could join her and sign it, or if we should wait till she'd re-hidden it and then try. She was fine with us coming up, it saved us what would've have been a MUCH harder search than I thought, and we made a new friend. Very cool.

 

When we took our Cub Scouts caching this weekend, I had the more experienced kids hold back a bit and let the others have more of the thrill of the find ... we were using mostly locations at least one of us adults had spotted before, to show them the ropes. Worked out very well.

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Good input everyone thanks, certainly didn't turn us off the sport as we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our day going 7 for 7. Maybe I should have introduced us as brand new and pulled the guy off to the side and asked him politely if he would mind letting the kids find it.

 

I like the idea too of letting more than one person in our group find the cache. We were all big on first one yells! But maybe pass the joy around a bit. In the end 3 of us found two and the one found one but that person was also the most afraid of the "woods".

 

Thanks again everyone

 

Bob

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Hmm... I've met quite a number of cachers while hunting. Maybe thirty or forty(?) (Can't remember for sure.) And I've never had that happen. More than a few "If you're looking for the cache I have it. Want me to rehide it?" (Met some nice ladies from England, stranded in New York by the volcano in Iceland, that way.) Some "I'll wait until you find it and rehide it." Mostly we chat and join forces. We've had some great fun that way! "You point that way and yell 'Look at that', and I'll climb over the sleeping girl." Or "You looking for the cache? Think that lady is leaning on the sign it's on." My best stealth mode yet! Dropped my backpack right behind her, and tied my shoes, and palmed the cache. We all signed it. Dropped my backpack again, and rifled through it, and returned the cache. Lady never even saw me! (Okay. New York can be strange...)

Mostly, we chat and join forces. Yeah. I think that was a bit rude. Oh, well. Not very common.

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I've met lots of others while out caching -- as recently as yesterday ... and before that, Saturday night -- and we always join forces to look for the cache. There is no way for the recently arriving cacher to know that you are new if you don't mention that early on. If you have a problem caching with others, you need to mention that early on, as well.

 

All of (well, almost all of) the cachers I've met over the years are extremely friendly people that love caching with others -- whether they know them or not -- and I couldn't imagine any of them ever getting upset by someone else coming in and finding a cache first. In fact, I personally welcome it. Makes it easier on me! :)

 

If there are young kids involved, I will usually say, "Try looking over there." ... the same thing I do if they are part of my group.

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I think the best thing one can do is use this as a learning experience, and next time you meet up with someone (and you will) ask them if they can hold back a bit so the youngsters can find it themselves. If they happen to be in a hurry - let them search first, and move away so you don't see the hiding spot.

We always ask first, but if youngsters are involved and we spot the prize...we pretend we haven't. The cacher you met is probably wondering if he/she handled things properly.

Good luck with your next hunt!

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I hope that what happened to you was an anomaly. The other cachers I've met have been really great friendly people.

 

I've run into groups twice. My first time, they rolled up behind me on a bike trail. It was obvious that I had no idea where the cache was. We chatted a bit and all started looking. I didn't know what the etiquette was, but I knew I recognized all of their names from reading many logs. All of a sudden one of them must have stepped back, because he was behind us all and he said "peanut". They all laughed and I still didn't know what was going on. Then another stood next to him and said "butter". Still no clue on my part. When a third one said "jelly" I caught on. Each of them had spotted it. One by one we found it, then "Peanut" guy made the grab and passed the log around. This went on for several more caches along the bike trail. Finally I got the chance to say "peanut". It was a good feeling. I learned a lot that day.

 

Another day, different section of the same trail. I see a crowd milling around one of my DNF spots. Not sure if they were cachers or just resting, I rolled slowly by and said "I DNF'd that one". They laughed so I stopped and joined in. It was one local guy and a family from halfway across the country. We searched together for a while. The family had to move on due to time constraints. The other guy spotted it and chased the family down to let them know it really was there. They walked back and we all got a smilie.

 

Hopefully your next encounter will be better.

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That was certainly odd. Personally, when I'm caching with a group I always hold off retrieving the cache if I spot it before others do. With the kids along, I always seem to find it first. After finding it, I'll wander some more and say that I've found it. Each of the kids gets their turn until they find it and we don't actually retrieve until everyone has seen the cache in its spot.

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